The Alfa Romeo Duetto Spider earned celebrity for its role in the iconic 1960s black comedy The Graduate.  With that, demand for the Italian roadster soared and the Alfa marque became a hot commodity in America once again.  The Spider’s movie gig retained enough prominence so as to become an entry trim level in later years.

This Duetto, from eBay seller flowernyc, is a pristine 1969.  The American-spec fuel-injection system was replaced by a traditional European twin-carb setup.  We’re not sure the engine: the early Duettos had either a 1.8 I-4 or a “Junior” 1.3, and both were linked to a 5-spd. manual.  Total output for the 1.8 was pegged at 118 hp; not bad considering the Duetto weighed under 2,200 lbs.

The current high bid is at $5,100–still under the reserve.  This is nicest Duetto we’ve seen in a long time, and makes for a more enjoyable ride than the later Spiders.  Should this be a 1.3, we’d put a reasonable price at around $9,000.  If it’s the preferred 1.8, set the number at $12,000.

See the car for yourself:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1969-Alfa-Romeo-Duetto-Spider-Great-Condition_W0QQitemZ200365462698QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Cars_Trucks?hash=item2ea6b654aa&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=65%3A-1|39%3A1

You knew this was coming.

Shelby American has either reproduced or authorized reproductions of all its classics, from the Cobra 289 to the Ford GT40.  While some of those replicas are second-rate, the Shelby-made Cobras and authorized SuPerformance Daytonas are exceptional cars for the money.  We’ve always been suckers for the 289, though–easier to tame on the road than the 427.

Because of the large volume Shelby’s built up of his Cobra line since the ’90s, prices for these cars new or used aren’t absurdly high.  We’ve seen genuine Shelby-built later 289s for $70,000.  Just because we’re ragging on an overpriced auction car doesn’t we don’t like the name.

We reported a couple months back about a rare 1965 Shelby Daytona up for auction at Mecum.  The seller had hoped to have his car become a record-holder with a final bid between $10,000,000 and $11,000,000.  The final bid was nowhere near those figures.  The seller and Mecum group claim there was a post-auction offer of as much as $7,500,000, but the seller was still unsatisfied.

Here we go again.  The seller is pushing the Shelby coupe on the block once again, hoping this season’s Monterey auction will bring in a willing buyer up to the seller’s financial standards.

That’s going to be a hard sell.  With a shaky economy, classic American car values in the dumps, and an astonishingly high sales expectation, we find it very unlikely this car will hit the eight-figure mark.  The only cars we can count hitting eleven million have been Ferrari’s revered 250 Testa Rossas and GTOs.  Still, this Daytona is in marvelous condition, is extremely rare, and has real history behind it.